MeliKahChi's art Reviews on Newgrounds

[Presents for all, under Santa! - Final Submission Dec 2017]

There's an interesting texture on your digital painting. The main focus is well executed : we really focus on the hammer and instantly associate that to a communist society. The ray of light over Santa's eyes also makes us feel like he's telling us that he's watching the elves.

The elf proportions seem a little bit off though, I think because of his lower body going really skinny, and his left arm (so at out right when we're looking at the piece) feeling a bit too short.

I wonder what's written at the bottom ? Is it 'Presents for all, under Santa' ?

Good luck with the challenge, good job !

LostCozmonaut responds:

Thanks MeliKahChi! It does say "Presents for all, under Santa".(according to google translate)

I was trying to get an extreme foreshortening effect on the elf, and had a lot of trouble with that left arm. I was trying to get it to look like it was at the level of his waist, and had a lot of trouble when it came to getting the proportions right. I am going to go back and see if lengthening the arm helps. Thanks for the CC, good luck with the challenge!

[EWP Motivational Poster [December COTM]]

I must admit that the first time I saw your piece, I was a little uncomfortable because of the elf on the foreground, who's making a really "weird" sign, if you know what I'm refering to. So I'm sure you didn't even think about that, but I would've slightly changed the sign to not be so alike.

Technically, I think it's a really great work for a first time with a graphic tablet ! Those slightly desaturated christmas colors are really cool. I like that you didn't neglect the background and the town and forest and mountains really add life and consistence to your piece.

Regarding your intention to depict the elves "combating the growing rise of consumerism and online shopping that is displacing them." I would've maybe made it more obvious. The main focus of the viewer's eyes go to the main elf and then to the crowd. At first I didn't get that the intention of the poster was to fight against online shopping, I had to read your description for that.
Finally, the right bottom part is really empty and feels like the poster was designed too big for the message. I would've work on this part to be more focused on the online shopping issue. Maybe it was a lack of time on you part ?

Good luck for the competition, and well done !

Rayiless responds:

I did not even think about that hand gesture till you mentioned it, but I can see how you might get that impression now. A lot of the old posters [CCP/USSR] from that time used that similar positioning and appearance, though I believe the thumb is pointed more outward.

Thanks! Yeah, the lower left hand corner was meant to actually have a larger scene in it, but due to time I had to cut it and didn't effectively fill it. I had worked on filling it with different things (which you can see in the video), but ultimately just had to call it. When I did finally think of something I had also destroyed my ability to easily fix it by accidentally saving the final file over the WiP file. If I had to do it again I would definitely try and bring out that fighting back aspect more in the lower right .

Thank you for your constructive criticism and good luck to you as well!

[The Soldiers of Christmas]

I really like your entry, I think it's a great work. The background rays gives a great dynamic to your piece, and the color scheme is really christmasy AND propaganda-like ! Great job !

If I were to be picky about your work though, I would say that we can easily tell the paper texture you used is not that high quality. Also, the background rays are not as neat as the rest of the red parts (typos or frame) and it's easily noticeable. And finally, the star on the tree is pixelated. Globaly, you may want to make sure the quality of the different elements of a piece are at the same level.

TEhDove responds:

Yeah, I agree with the lack of quality with some of the different aspects of my piece. I definitely could have made them better, especially with the quality of the star on top of the Christmas Tree. And being inconsistent with textures and how I added them to my piece. Thank you for the advice! I'll definitely try to learn from these mistakes to make my art better!

[Blessed (ELF MOTIVATION)]

This is so good I really love your style ! It's an important message, I'm glad you shared it with us.

Snnoozy responds:

Thankyou so much❤

[Sleigh Those Toys]

I like your entry ! Really colorful and with a great impact. Thank you for following me.

Littlecookiemann responds:

Haha thank you so much. I really liked your entry as well I thought it was very creative and unique :)

[YOU CAN DO IT! Jazza COTM december 2017 entry]

Your entry is so funny ! I love it ! I like that "poster-ception" you did on the wall, with this very poster stuck to the worshops' walls. Nice composition too, with the train wheels replacing the elf's eyes...

TheFrenchGuyDraws responds:

Sank you!
I had a lot of fun making it.